It is known that electrical connector systems are used to connect various cables, such as telecommunication cables, networking cables, other signaling cables or in general any electrical wiring, for example. Electrical connector systems are used for joining electrical circuits, wherein typically a male-ended plug is designed to connect to a female-ended jack. In many applications the safe coupling of connectors is of high importance. For example, in the case of car safety systems, e.g. airbag systems in passenger cars, the connectors used for the connection of an airbag to its ignition base have to be provided with reliable safety systems. To ensure that the connectors cannot become loose unintentionally, secondary locking systems may be used to guarantee the safe mechanical coupling. Often, such secondary locking systems are realized in the form of separate plastic components, which may be installed on one of the connectors which are to be secured, or are directly molded on the connector.
Additionally, in many fields of applications, electrical connector systems require cable strain relief members which firmly attach the cables to the connector systems in order to relieve the actual connection portion of the cable from possible strains. This connection portion, where the cable is dismantled and the cable wiring may be connected to a contact terminal, can be particularly fragile and therefore has to be protected. Cable strain relief members are known in the art to relieve electrical connector systems from strains applied to a cable. Normally, any forces applied to a cable directly act on the crimp area, i.e. the interconnection where the cable is connected to a contact terminal. These terminals of electrical connectors are usually very small components, such as components that are stamped and/or formed from thin sheet metal material and easily damaged or destroyed by the strain.
An improper seating of a contact terminal in a connector housing may occur if the terminal is not fully inserted therein during the initial assembly of the electrical connector system or if the contact terminal is vibrated or pulled out of its fully seated condition during use of the connector system. Failures of this type are a particular concern in the automotive industry where electrical components are subjected to vibration almost continuously during normal usage. It is therefore known in the art to provide a terminal position assurance (TPA) device for electrical connectors to detect incomplete insertion of contact terminals into the connector housings. TPAs also assure that the contact terminal is properly positioned in the respective housing.